Ľubomír and Peter Bandúr

Similar and unique as well

by Eva Kelley

Recently awarded with the title “masters of folk art production”, brothers Ľubomír and Peter Bandúr are engaged in working with wood. They make very similar production lines, however, each brother possesses a unique and author-specific style. Ľubomír Bandúr: „My ambition is to emphasize natural beauty of wood. I graduated from the secondary school of machine engineering and worked as a construction engineer in a machine plant in the town of Považská Bystrica. I began my wood- and painting-related career in 1992. I started to work for the ÚĽUV in 1980 by cooperating with visual artist J. Menkynová on a collection of wood toys – animals and chalets.” Later, he started to design products by himself – caskets, jewellery boxes, wooden combs, Christmas decorations, candle sticks etc. He makes the above products from cherry, plum and nut wood and impregnates them with natural linseed oil. However, he does not do craft for living. Demand for wood products fluctuates with season. Peter Bandúr: „I choose simple shapes and lines over anything else.” He completed apprenticeship in carpentry. He has been a licensed carpenter since 1989 and has worked with wood in his free time. Having become an unemployed person 1997, he started a professional career in wood products making. He revived his cooperation with the ÚĽUV at that time. Range of his products expanded – he started to make wood caskets, jewellery boxes, combs and pendants from nut, cherry, plum, elm and maple wood. He uses poplar and lime wood for making toys. In addition to the ÚĽUV shops, costumers may find his products in many shops around Slovakia and at international festivals he attends in person.